Victoria on the back foot despite Hodge hundred

Day 2 of 4 Victoria 7 for 252 (Hodge 125, McDonald 51*) trail Tasmania 341 by 89 runs
Scorecard

Tasmania were focused on securing the vital first-innings points against Victoria on the second day of the decisive-round Pura Cup clash at the Bellerive Oval. Victoria were 7 for 252 at stumps in reply to the Tasmanian first-innings total of 341.

Two first-innings points would improve Tasmania's prospects of a final berth against the runaway leaders Victoria. "We would have liked to have taken another wicket today, but at the start of the day we would have certainly taken that score," said Brian McFadyen, the Tasmanian coach. "Certainly, I think one more wicket will break it open and I would expect that we'd get through the last few really quickly. We do bowl well at the tail, as a rule."

A week out from the Melbourne final, second-placed Tasmania need to fend off a challenge from rivals Queensland and NSW. NSW were 4 for 177 at stumps today at the SCG in reply to Queensland's 9 for 418 declared, with rain forecast for the weekend.

McFadyen said the Sydney showdown was "hard to ignore, but it is certainly not our major focus. I do truly believe that we've got the second-best side in the competition so far and I do believe we deserve the opportunity to take [Victoria] on in the final."

Shane Watson did his bit for Tasmania's finals campaign today when he snared the coveted scalp of Brad Hodge. Hodge posted his fifth hundred of the season en route to 125 before he was dismissed by Watson, who has been cleared to bowl on a daily basis after suffering a debilitating back injury. Watson finished the day with 2 for 57 off 18 overs.

The innings started badly for Victoria when their top runscorer of this season, Matthew Elliott, was caught by Dan Marsh at first slip off Damien Wright for 1. It was quite a coup for Wright, who has been receiving injections to deaden the pain of a nagging left-knee injury.

Matthew Mott, his fellow opener, was next to go when he fell lbw to Gerard Denton for 10. Andrew Downton, the left-arm fast bowler, nailed David Hussey (7) and Cameron White (2) to achieve the respectable figures of 2 for 51 off 18 overs.